[squeak-dev] Re: Smalltalk images considered harmful
K. K. Subramaniam
subbukk at gmail.com
Thu May 22 09:34:40 UTC 2008
On Thursday 22 May 2008 3:22:33 am Andreas Raab wrote:
> It is *not* correct to say that a Squeak image cannot be compiled from
> source code. We do this all the time. It is correct that it is difficult
> to compile it *entirely* from source code but this is just as true for
> other executable files (the ELF headers are not generated from source
> code either!)
The alarmist subject line seems to trigger defensive responses. Debian just
seeks is a prototypical VM (with full sources) that takes a prototypical
image from which all other VMs and images may be generated through patches
and file-ins. This is no different from previous quests for a 'minimal' image
from which other projects like Etoys, Croquet can be built. The prototypical
image does not contain any machine-specific code and may be treated like, say
a WAV file
I see conformance Debian guidelines as a positive for the future of Squeak. We
may finally leave behind the annoying MNUs during file-ins. Just imagine
being able to replicate Alan Kay's famous demo image with a simple "apt-get
install squeak-demo" :-).
Subbu
More information about the Squeak-dev
mailing list
|